(), is the designation for German junior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s (NCOs) in the German Armed Forces. The category was a division of the NCO class, separating junior NCOs from ''Unteroffiziere mit Portepee'', or senior NCOs (who wore the sword knot). The name is derived from earlier traditions in which German senior NCOs (''

Feldwebel ''Feldwebel '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupi ...

'') would carry the officer's sidearms (sword, sabre) with the officer's swordknot (made from silver or gold lace). Ranks in this category: *

Unteroffizier () is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the . It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army. Austria , also , is the collective name t ...

(navy:

Maat Maat or Maʽat ( Egyptian: mꜣꜥt /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) refers to the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Ma'at was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regul ...

) *

Fahnenjunker ''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, en, officer cadet; ) is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and of some former German armed forces. In earlier German armed forces it was also the collective name for many officer aspirant ranks. It was establi ...

(navy:

Seekadett ''Seekadett'' (short SKad or SK; ,Langenscheidt´s Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the English and German language: „Der Große Muret-Sander“, Part II German-English, Second Volume L–Z, 8th edition 1999, ; p. 1.381 ) is a military rank of the B ...

) *

Stabsunteroffizier ''Stabsunteroffizier'' is a military rank of the German Bundeswehr. It was preceded by the rank ''Unterfeldwebel'' that was used between 1935 and 1945 in the armed forces of Nazi Germany, the Wehrmacht. The East German National People's Army used t ...

(navy:

Obermaat '' Obermaat '' is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and earlier other German-speaking armed forces. Bundeswehr '' Obermaat '' (OMaat or in lists OMT) is a rank of the German Navy. It belongs to the particular rank group NCO's without portepee ...

, historical:

Unterfeldwebel () was a rank of the Wehrmacht, from 1935 until 1945. It was also used in the East German National People's Army from 1956 to 1990. The equivalent to ''Unterfeldwebel'' in the Bundeswehr of West Germany and later the Federal Republic of Germany i ...

/ Unterwachtmeister)Schlicht, Adolf and John R. Angloia, ''Die Deutsche Wehrmacht: Uniformierung und Ausrüstung 1933-1945 Band 1: Das Heer'' (Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, 2000) p.26

Table of ranks

References

{{reflist Military ranks of Germany

Table of ranks

See also

References